Stay With Me
by klynne83
Summary: Another Post 2.18


Holy Crow! That ep! That ending! Now we have to wait 3 weeks for the next episode? Why kinda crap is that?!

A big shout out to my awesome beta Alysha Jones Porter who is totally awesome and I totally adore her.

Well, here is my post 2.18. hope everyone likes!

She takes a deep breath, seeing the car Red and Dembe were using this week pull up opposite hers. She was still reeling from everything Tom, or whatever the hell his name was, had told her. She couldn't believe Tom had been hired by Red to infiltrate her life. She wanted to be mad, but all she was, was sad. This was probably the hardest thing she had to do.

She grabs the case with the fulcrum off the passenger seat as she gets out of the car, slamming the door as she sees Dembe get out first, then Red. He places his Fedora on his head and fixes the brim as he and Dembe walk toward her.

"What wrong?" he asks coming to stand in front of her.

"I just spent the last 42 hours dealing with a man who is a pathological liar," she states.

"Tom." He takes a breath. "Lizzie…"

"Don't," she shakes her head. "This man," she stares into his eyes. "He told me something. Something that I need you to confirm. Now before I ask, I want you to understand that I expect you to give me the dignity of a yes or a no." she couldn't believe she was actually having this conversation. She couldn't believe all of her insecurities regarding him were coming true. She trusted him, and to find out all of this…crap that happened was because of him. Red stares at her for a long moment.

"Yes," he finally says. "I'm the one who hired Tom Keen to enter your life." She keeps staring at him, trying to keep the tears at bay. "Can I explain?"

She starts shaking her head. "You cannot explain." She fumbles with the case holding the fulcrum. She opens it, thrusting it at him. "Here! This is all you wanted. Now you have it."

"Lizzie, when I hired Tom…" he attempts to explain.

"I said please do not attempt to explain why. I don't care why," she stalks past him and to his car. "I want it all to stop right now." She places the case on Red's car as he watches her. She didn't want to look at him anymore. She starts back to her car throwing out a, "Take it!" over her shoulder.

"Lizzie," she hears him call out. It wasn't a desperate call, but something else, hurt maybe. She gets into her car, slamming the door behind her, but as she does a shot rings out and Red drops to the ground.

"Dembe!" she calls out as the bodyguard rushes out of their car and to where Red was laying on the ground, unmoving. Dembe grabs the case off the car and withdraws a weapon. She rushes over, unwrapping her scarf from around her neck, and pressing it to Red's wound. She withdraws her own gun, shooting in the direction the shot came from. Her once white scarf was now red from his blood. She tosses it aside and presses her palm to his wound with Dembe's hand pressing over hers. A gasp leaves Red's mouth.

Tears start falling down Lizzie's cheeks as she and Dembe exchange looks. "Hang on," she gasps out.

"Put pressure on it," Dembe tells her in a soft voice. "I am going to call for backup."

"Backup? He needs an ambulance," she gets out. 

"He cannot go to a hospital. There are people after him. He needs to go somewhere, where we can be safe," Dembe tells her. He takes a look around making sure that there weren't any immediate threats. Lizzie takes this opportunity to grab the phone and dial 911. She rattles off the information the operator requests before dropping the phone to the ground. Dembe looks at her sharply, frowning at her. She presses down a little harder and Red groans softly. His blood was everywhere. It was all over his face and now it was all over her.

"Stay with me," she whispers into his ear as she leans over him. "Oh, God," she cries out as more blood flows over her and Dembe's hand. Before she knew what she was doing, she starts pulling at her jacket with her free hand. She gets it off halfway before pressing it down onto his wound. She continues taking it off with Dembe helping her. Soon they could hear the ambulance and its sirens.

It screeches to a stop next to the two of them. The paramedics jump out and run over to them. To Lizzie, it seemed to move in slow motion. One of the paramedics drops his bag and then drops to his knees.

"Ma'am," he tells her slowly. She turns to the voice, but not really seeing him. He slowly lays his hand on top of hers. "I'm going to take over now, okay?"

"Do not let him die, do you hear me?" she points at him, tears falling down her cheeks. "Do not let him die."

"We will do our best," he tells her, trying to remove her hand from Red's wound.

She presses her hand onto his wound again. ""Your best'?" she screeches. She feels another pair of hands on her shoulders, but she shrugs them off.

"Liz," she hears Dembe's voice. "Let them do their job." The paramedic takes her distraction and moves her hand. Blood starts pouring out of the wound again.

"No, no, no," she chants trying to get her hand onto his wound again as the paramedic shrugs her off. Dembe finally had enough as he grabs her arms and pulls her away from Red and the paramedics. She thrashes against him trying to get back to Red. "Let me go, let me go," she yells trying to break free from Dembe's gasp. "Red," she calls out, tears running down her face. She knew he couldn't answer. She knew he was lost in the abyss of pain and blood loss. "Do not let him die, do you hear me," she calls out to the paramedics. "Dembe, let me go. Please! I have to go to him. I have…I have to be…" she gasps out the pain become too much. Dembe loosens his grip on her, and she takes that opportunity to try and run over to Red. But he was quick and wraps his arms around her once again.

"You have to let them do their work," he whispers.

"No, I have to go. I have to be there for Red. After what I said…I can't… Dembe, he can die. I'm sorry Red for everything. I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of it. I don't know… I don't… He can't die. He can't. He means everything to me," she mutters. She buries her face into Dembe's chest and starts sobbing. She grabs hold of his shirt. She gasps as it gets hard to breathe.

"Liz, you need to relax," Dembe tells her in a calm, deep voice.

She gasps out once again. "I can't…"

"Yes, you can. If you don't calm down they are going to sedate you. He wouldn't want this. Believe it or not, but his first priority was your safety," he covers her hand that was still gripping his shirt. He slowly helps her get her breathing under control.

"I can't lose him Dembe," she says.

"I know. I know," he whispers. The two watch as Red was lifted onto a stretcher and brought over to the ambulance.

"One of you coming?" one of the paramedics ask.

"Go, I will follow in the car," Dembe tells her. She walks over to the ambulance and gets in. she takes a seat next to the stretcher, but out of the way of the paramedics working. She takes Red's hand into her own. She brings his hand up and lays a kiss on it, a few tears leaking out.

She watches as the paramedics work on Red. "Red?" she asks as his eyes flutter. His eyes open and turn on her. "Oh God, Red," she says laying her forehead against his. "I'm so sorry. So sorry," she whispers. The ambulance screeches to a stop and the doors swing open to reveal a few doctors. Suddenly the monitors start going crazy. "Stay with me, Red. Stay with me." She drops his hand as the paramedics and the doctor's spring into action. Lizzie jumps out of the ambulance following them all.

"Ma'am, you can't go back there." a nurse stops Lizzie.

"No, I have to be there. I have to be with him."

"The doctors are taking good care of your husband," the nurse tells her. Dembe rushes into the hospital seeing Lizzie standing at a pair of double doors.

"Liz? How is he doing?"

"He came to briefly in the ambulance. Then as we got here, the monitors started going crazy. They rushed him into the ER." They watch as a doctor comes out of the room where they had taken Red. He talks to a nurse and they both look to where Lizzie and Dembe are standing. Lizzie pushes the door open and rushes down the hall. She runs into the room and stops as she sees Red laying on the stretcher unmoving. "No, no," tears streaming down her face. She approaches the stretcher and takes his cold hand into hers. "Red," she gasps out. She lays her head onto his. "I need you. I cannot do this without you. Stay with me. Please. Come back to me." She takes a deep breath. "I love you. Please come back to me." She gasps as she feels the tightening of his hand on hers. Red gasps out in pain. "Doctor!" she calls out. The doctor and nurse come rushing back in. the doctor starts barking orders at the nurse.

"Lizzie," Red gasps out.

"I'm here Red. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."

"Love…you…" he whispers before they placed a breathing mask onto his face. He survived for her. The fulcrum really was life or death. She wished the damn thing didn't exist. Who knew what was on there. She didn't know what the future had in store for them, but they would be able to get past it. They could get through it together.


End file.
